


Sir Fraldarius and the Sleeping Boar

by zappactionsdower



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fairy Tale shenanigans, M/M, and cursed books, and felix being a terrible knight in shining armor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28824390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappactionsdower/pseuds/zappactionsdower
Summary: Tumblr challenge -In an attempt to help Dimitri fall asleep, Constance lends him a book of fairy tales from the Abyss Library.Unfortunately, the book works just a little too well.It's not that Felix wants to rescue Prince Charming - he just needs a training partner in the morning is all.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	Sir Fraldarius and the Sleeping Boar

“The boar is not in the training yard.” Felix announced to his classmates at breakfast. “Where is he?”

Sylvain liked to believe he was an expert on one Felix Hugo Fraldarius and had, over time, learned the intricacies of Felix’s more moody moments.

This was the Dimitri Complex rearing its very prickly head and therefore _not_ an emergency. Decidedly not a reason to get up from his spot in the dining hall or to stop eating the very delicious Gloucester truffle omelettes and side of Rowe bacon.

“Maybe he overslept?” Ashe offered helpfully. “The professor did have us studying until very late last night.”

Felix’s eyes narrowed. “The boar doesn’t sleep in. Ever.”

“Felix, did you hear him get out of bed?” Mercedes inquired. 

Felix’s stare turned positively murderous. He gripped the handle of his sword and slid his gaze until he saw Dedue walking towards their table “You - where is he?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Dedue rumbled and despite the cadence of his voice, his frown was decidedly _concerned_. “His Highness did not greet me in our usual place. I assumed he simply had an early morning and was already eating breakfast with all of you.”

“That’s weird.” Ingrid dropped her fork down and rose out of her seat. Not that there was much left to eat - Ingrid didn’t hold back on omelette mornings. “Perhaps we should ask the professor?”

Right. Maybe Sylvain needed to reconsider emergency status.

“I’m going back to his room.” Felix gripped the pommel of his sword and spun on his heel. 

“Felix, I’m pretty sure you don’t need to threaten to _stab_ him for oversleeping.” Sylvain hastily jumped up from his spot and caught up with his friend. “It’s probably fine.”

Probably.

Felix grunted.

Dimitri locked his door every night. Even at Garreg Mach, there was always a threat of someone wanting to murder the heir to Faerghus and Dimitri refused to “burden” anyone with guarding him. Not that he needed it with Dedue beside him like a shadow.

Felix did not have a key.

Felix did not need a key.

He turned the knob once. 

And then he raised his foot and _kicked_. The wood groaned but against the strength of a Crest, it may as well have been paper.

“I’ll pay for it to be repaired later.” Felix shoved his way inside, Sylvain following behind. This deep into his Dimitri Complex, it was best to let Felix rampage until he settled down and could destroy a training dummy. “Boar!”

Dimitri slept soundly on the bed, his head buried in the pillow. 

Strange. “You’d think the noise would wake him up.” Dimitri, Sylvain knew, was not a sound sleeper at all. He tossed and turned and typically woke up at least twice every night.

“Boar.” Felix went to the bed and glowered down at the sleeping prince. “Wake up.”

Dimitri’s room had no windows and no other entrances. There was no way an assassin would come in, surely. But - 

“Dimitri. This isn’t funny.” Felix knelt down and shook Dimitri’s shoulder. “You - “

Dimitri didn’t stir.

 _Sothis._ “You don’t think - “

Felix’s hand went to Dimitri’s neck. “His pulse is normal.” There was a jerkiness to Felix’s motions now, an uncertainty as to what to do next. “He ate and drank the same thing I did last night. This - “

Sylvain noticed a patch of dark blue peeking out from the blankets. He leaned down and grasped for a heavy book. “Huh.” He tilted his head and thumbed curiously at the pages. “Weird.”

“What?” Felix lifted Dimitri into a sitting position, clutching him close as he kept patting at Dimitri’s cheek. Dimitri’s head slumped against Felix’s neck and he made a little indignant snore.

“Oh - nothing.” _Maybe_. Felix’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s just get him to Manuela first, all right?” Sylvain tucked the book beneath his arm and took a deep breath. “Before you murder everyone.”

Felix didn’t deny it.

“He’s out cold.” Manuela tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Seems like some kind of magic but none I’m familiar with. And he didn’t eat or drink anything?”

“How do we fix it?” Felix interrupted. He still stood close to the bed where they’d settled Dimitri onto and his hand remained right up against his sword. Dimitri remained stubbornly sound asleep.

“As I was _saying_ ,” Manuela nearly growled out, “I would have to know _how_ the magic got to him first. What’s different today than yesterday?”

“His Highness did not break from his normal routine.” Dedue’s expression was blank but his voice was anything but. “I assisted with dinner duties last night and used no unusual ingredients.”

“He didn’t go anywhere different. Well,” Ashe stopped, “he did go to _that_ place briefly but - with the Professor. And they both returned.”

“That place?” Manuela raised an eyebrow.

“Just a garden, is all.” Ashe’s smile was not-at-all suspicious. Sylvain made a note to coach him later on the whole _lying_ bit. “But the Professor wouldn’t allow any harm to come to him, I’m sure.”

“I did find this.” Sylvain held up the old, tattered book. “Maybe it’s a spellbook?”

Manuela took the item in question and looked it over. “Looks like an old fairy-tale book to me.” She flipped through a few pages, lips turned downwards. “Once upon a time there was a lovely -”

Manuela’s eyes rolled back into her head and she dropped. Sylvain lurched forwards, awkwardly catching her before she could faceplant The book slipped out of her limp hand and made a dull thump against the solid floor.

“Miss Manuela!” Ashe rushed forward as Sylvain gently readjusted his grip and lifted her in a bridal carry. “Oh no, is she all right?”

“Out like a light.” Sylvain’s voice dropped as he carried the unconscious teacher to the earnest empty bed. “So - nobody else touch that book, all right?”

Felix was already reaching down to grab the cursed thing. He wrapped it tightly in a cloth and held it close. “Where did he get this?”

“Well - “ Ashe nervously rubbed his fingers. “I shouldn’t tell you about it but - “

“ _Start talking_.” Felix snarled.

“All right. I’ll take you there. For His Highness.” Ashe looked forlornly at the bed where Dimitri slept onwards. On the bed, he just looked - kind of floppy and not at all regal.

“I’ll alert Seteth that Manuela is taking a nap. You guys go on - “ Sylvain glanced to Dedue who nodded and stepped closer to Dimitri. “Go figure out how to wake up Prince Charming.”

One of these days, Sylvain really did need to confront Felix about the whole Dimitri Complex business.

Hopefully when things _weren’t_ going down in Eternal Flames.

Yuri learned to expect the unexpected in the Abyss. People didn’t visit because they were looking for rest and relaxation. Last week, it was the giant snake-beast that someone had “accidentally” released in one of the recently unearthed catacombs. Yesterday, it was that placid professor and her puppy of a prince winning an unofficial arm wrestling tournament, apparently in an attempt to clear some of Balthus’s debts. Balthus had been positively beside himself in both gratitude and shame that he’d been undone by such a slender-looking noble.

Yuri kept warning him about appearances. Balthus just kept ignoring him.

Still, Yuri expected a quiet day after yesterday’s grand drama. Most denizens of the Abyss were too busy nursing hangovers to raise a fuss..

That thinking, apparently, did not include _interlopers_.

Especially one armed with a very sharp sword that was snarling against one of Yuri’s men. The other two guards were already on the ground, cursing a blue streak.

“Sorry.” Ashe awkwardly waved from behind the dark-haired stranger. “But I’m glad to see you Yuri!”

At the mention of his name, the dark-haired swordsman turned, glaring poisonous daggers at Yuri. He held himself like a noble brat and the dark hair - 

Ah.

“You’re a Fraldarius, aren’t you?” Ashe described this one as _noble_ and _heroic_. The crown prince of Faerghus spoke fondly of his weapon skills like some blushing maiden and her first crush.

Both of them were far too _nice_.

“Felix, I think.” Felix twitched. “If you hurt my men, you won’t be leaving here.” Yuri smiled, revealing teeth. Yuri knew all about people like Felix - all frigid exteriors and tempestuous moods beneath. They were easy to deal with so long as you knew what to say and which buttons to press to keep them off balance. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Felix held up a book. “Ashe says Dimitri got this from you.”

Yuri raised one eyebrow.

“Start talking.” Felix gripped his sword tighter. “I don’t have time to be nice.”

Brat. “You’re in _my_ domain. I’d watch your tongue.”

“Could we both please settle?” Ashe raised his hands imploringly. “This is a matter of life and death. At least I think it is. “ He shook his head, as if to clear out a stray thought. “Let’s go to the library. Maybe Constance will know.”

Felix glowered but relented. He sheathed his sword and stood up, still fixing Yuri with a haughty glare.

Really. The professor had such strange taste in students. “Follow me then. But if you do anything else, well, people have a tendency to _disappear_ down here.”

“Like I wanted to come to this pit.” Felix grumbled.

Dimitri and the professor truly kept the strangest company.

“Oh! Yes! I did give him that book.” Constance smiled and clapped her hands. “It is a book of Faerghus Fairy Tales as written by the Sisters Rowe. A very rare edition, if I do say so myself. It is guaranteed to put even the most restless individual to sleep!”

Felix all but growled like some well-trained Faerghus wolfhound.

“Did it not work to your liking?” Constance glanced briefly to Yuri, waiting for a sign of why some stranger was _growing_ at her. “It came with the highest of recommendations according to my research.”

“It worked a little too well.” Ashe put himself bodily between Felix and Constance. Felix seemed to realize the move as he huffed indignantly.

“He won’t wake up. Your _book_ ,” Felix almost spat the word, “is cursed.”

Constance’s eyes widened as she squeaked. “Well, cursed books are not unheard of but I did not sense a single spell upon it. Perhaps there is something I missed? Can I see it?”

“Just don’t try to read it.” Miss Manuela didn’t even finish a sentence.” Ashe hesitantly handed the innocent-looking tome over to Constance. She muttered something and began flipping it over, her hands drifting all along the worn binding.

Yuri crossed his arms in quiet consideration. Felix at east appeared to behave but there was a certain coiled anxiety in his body language. Knights could be particularly defensive about their lords but this - 

“And here I’ve heard you hate His Highness.” Yuri mused out loud.

The flush on Felix’s face was all too telling.

There was a history there. And Yuri quite liked history.

“That’s none of your business.” Felix looked away and said, “It’s inconvenient.”

.”I suppose it would be.” Yuri mused. “Constance, have you found anything?”

Constance looked up, surprised. “Perhaps? If you look at the foreward, there is a note in the old Maculi magical text. Of course, someone with my level of talent has no issue reading it but to most - “

“Do continue.” Yuri interrupted. He could soothe her ego later.

Constance coughed. “It says that one must make certain to finish the story they start for the power of stories is - very powerful.” She tilted her head. “I do not think the author considered the construction of that sentence.”

“And what does that mean, do you think?”

“I do not know. But - “ Constance hesitated and thumbed a page. “I do have a theory if you feel confident in testing it.”

“I’m not afraid.” Felix stood straighter, determined. “What do I do?”

“I can help as well.” Ashe volunteered.

“Perhaps you’d better go back and report to that professor of yours?” Yuri gestured towards the exit. “I’d rather not have the entire Church of Seiros coming in here looking for two more missing students. You’re already causing enough noise.” He turned his attention back to Constance. “I’ll volunteer as well.”

There were quite a few benefits to having a future king in his debt.

“Very well.” Constance nodded to Ashe. “Could you ah - could you step outside please? In case this does work.”

“Right.” Ashe nodded nervously. “I trust you Constance.”

There was a moment as Ashe exited. Felix’s frown grew deeper and more dour.

“Well.” Constance took a deep breath and opened the book to the first page. “I hope this works. Once upon a time - “

Yuri suddenly felt very heavy.

And the world went very dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to get over some Writer's Block before Dimilix Week 2021. Wish me luck!


End file.
